Master Bedroom: Making A Focal Point

And so it begins. We've started, ever so slowly, on the renovation of our bedroom. Given our post-baby track record, we'll probably finish this project up, oh, when Chloe graduates from high school :o\

So here is the bedroom in its current state. *Shudder* I know, I know, shocking isn't it? Sad to say that we've lived in this sorry state of a room since we bought the house. While we have finished many other renovations in the house, we've neglected one of the most used rooms. Don't ask me why. That's just how we roll. Amazing how we don't even noticed the floral wallpaper border or fugly blue curtains anymore! But, no worries, because this room will soon be transformed. (And anyway, a really bad Before photo makes the After even better ;) ).

I thought you all might like to see how we HandyLuster's put a room together, so I'll be doing a series of posts on things like layout, lighting, fabric and paint selection for the room. First up, focal point.

The pic above is from the door when you enter the room. I wanted the room to have instant impact, which meant the wall facing the door should be the focal point. However, that bump-out in the wall limited where we could place furniture. So, we've gotten rid of it by framing out a wall around it, leaving us with a nice flat wall and clean slate to work with.

We'll be putting sconces on either side of the headboard and hanging a chandelier, so that had some impact on the placement of the panels. As with all of our designs, we were going for something not too traditional and not too contemporary. We're working with our existing modern espresso headboard and the new sidetables. As well, we have to design the room for without the crib (don't ask me when Chloe is moving out though because I don't know, lol).

I mixed and matched some of the elements to come up with a final design. I liked how the sconces sat on the vertical panels. I also liked the different sized panels... I just felt a regular grid would feel too modern. So once we decided on the look, HandyMan did up a plan to scale in Autocad and we came up with this:

We needed this plan because we had our electrician (hi Mike!) come in last weekend and put in potlights and plugs and boxes and switches. Had I been a bit more on the ball, I would have picked out the actual sconces and ensured they were the appropriate distance from the headboard and the side tables. But we didn't (I guess finishing the panel design at 2am the day before Mike arrived at 8:30am didn't help!) so cross your fingers we can actually reach the lights while lying in bed.

So those are a few of the things we thought about before we even lifted a hammer. More posts to come.

We had the same situation in our bedroom with a "bump-out." Great minds must think alike as we went for the paneling/architectural interest as well.Check it out!http://www.bootsandtotty.com/2009/11/so-much-to-say/Looking forward to seeing your finished product!Totty

So exciting. Too often we ignore the rooms that are not seen by other people and yet we put so much effort into our children's rooms! I'm happy for you and can't wait to see the progress. Always inspired...~Tara

These are great laundry room designs! I actually told my husband the other day that we are lucky to have a nice laundry area. The towels and clothes are neatly placed in the cabinets. (Thanks, kids for helping mom!) The tile (Sarasota) flooring are smooth and sleek. And I am just thankful that whenever I do the laundry I am not stressed out because the area is well-maintained. Thanks, for sharing these excellent laundry designs!

We LOVE your panelling detail in your master bedroom and would like to incorporate something similar in our guest bedroom. I saw your AutoCAD dwg of the elevation, however I am curious of what you used for the 'detail' material inside the 4" stiles? If you can email me your detail of materials, I would REALLY appreciate it!!THNAKS!! Beautiful work!